The main character, Ross Poldark, is British Army officer, who returns to his home Cornwall from the American Revolutionary War only to find that his fiancée Elizabeth Chynoweth, having believed him dead, is about to marry his cousin Francis Poldark. Ross attempts to restore his own fortunes by reopening one of the family’s derelict Tin mines. After several years he marries Demelza Carne, a poor servant girl, and is gradually reconciled to the loss of Elizabeth’s love.
The BBC has adapted the series for television twice: Poldark first aired in 1975 and 1977, and a new version premiered in 2015.
Cornwall is the backdrop for most of the series, although some of the street scenes and houses were ‘up country’ as we say down here.